Thursday, December 8, 2011

Working in Sales

I work in sales.
Well, I'm supposed to.

I approached a middle aged man, who looked like he had put on about 50 pounds since high school, in the music section of our store.Karissa: Can I help you find something?Man: Well... I have a question. I used to sing in church, but I haven't in 10 years. How do people do that these days?Karissa: Sure. We have these CD accompaniment tracks that you can look through. They're alphabetized by song title. Otherwise you can just look up a song on this computer and we can burn the song onto a CD for you.Man: Oh! So, it's basically the same as before, just before we used tapes.Karissa: Right.

*pause*

Man: Also, I haven't gone to church in ten years and well, my daughters haven't really either. And people have told my daughters things to believe and I want to tell them what I believe. Do you have something where I could write Bible verses and then give it to my daughters to tell them what I believe?Karissa: Hmm. Do you mean like a journal?Man: Not really. Just like regular paper where I could print off Bible verses.Karissa: Hmm. So you don't want to write out the verses? You want to type them out?Man: Yeah, but I don't want to type them out. Could I copy them from a CD or something?Karissa: Aah! Well, if you are online, you can go to a website that has the Bible on it. It will have whatever version you're looking for. You can look up by verses if you know where it is or you can look up by a key word. For example, you could search for verses with the word forgiveness in them. Man: Really?Karissa: Yes! Do you have a piece of paper--just a sec, I'll get one and write it down for you.

I introduced a no-longer-church-going man to www.BibleGateway.com

I then showed him the audio Bibles (and he told me about James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth Vader and the New Testament). I also explained to him that while the KJV of the Bible is OLDER than newer versions such as the NIV, the NIV is actually translated from OLDER manuscripts that were found later. I truly believe I saw relief in his eyes as he felt he could now trust an easier to read version of the Bible to be true.

LOVE IT.

He told me several times that I was very helpful and thanked me several times. He left a very happy man and plans to return.

I do work in sales.
But, I don't always make a sale.
And that's okay.

Our store mission is: "As God works through us, we will help individuals and churches by providing biblical solutions for life."

I did that today. I gave him some resources and information that will help him and probably his daughers as well.

The store I work at is interestingly a not-for-profit based on a business model.

It's an interesting mix-being both a business but also a not-for-profit. We "plus" sell items (like the Courageous DVD or Christmas tote bags).

After expenses, our profits fund three different charities.We also enable our customers to donate locally by offering items that they can purchase and we'll later give to charities that are down the street from us:

Christmas tote bags to a food pantry,
Stuffed animals to a children's home,
Bibles to a pregnancy care center

Stories of our colleagues praying with customers in their stores are passed through e-mail. We have a prayer box and regularly pray for those requests during our morning devotions.

This gave me chills, what an amazing way God is working through you and the store!! It's such an encouragement to hear how everyday people need Jesus, and He continually meets us where we are, every day. Bless you Karissa!! Keep serving like you are!!